They were being held in separate rooms. Higgins hadn't seen Magnum since they'd been grabbed. She knew from the cotton-like feeling in her head that she'd been drugged and wondered if he'd been knocked out too. Her guard, a man taller than T.C., hadn't said a word since she'd woken up, and had backhanded her across the face when she'd tried to talk to him.

Every now and then, she could hear a yell from off to the left somewhere. She couldn't decide if it was Magnum yelling in pain or one of their captors yelling in anger. Her head was so thick and fuzzy and her thoughts were so slow that, by the time she realised she was hearing it, the sound had always faded away. She tried to tell herself that a cry of pain would be drawn out. But then her mind started supplying reasons why a pained cry might be cut off.

She could feel panic bubbling up beneath the aftereffects of the drug and knew she needed to contain it. She knew she could use the energy that the panic would give her if she just keep a tight grip on it. But she could also see flickers of rainbow light everytime she moved her head, and it was awfully distracting.

Her head tipped to the side as she heard the yell again. It definitely sounded like Magnum's voice, and she tugged at the ropes that were pinning her wrists to the metal ring on the floor.

"Why does he keep shouting?" She didn't even realise she had spoken out loud until her guard swung at her, sending her crashing to her side, shoulders tugging painfully against the restraints. This time, he followed up the blow with a kick that caught her in the temple. It wasn't full-force, thankfully, but it was hard enough to send her consciousness reeling for a few minutes.

When she came back to herself, her guard was tugging at her ropes, pulling her hands free. She was so dizzy that her stomach was rolling, her head was floating somewhere beneath the ceiling, and her face was on fire. But if she was being untied, this could be her only chance to make a move. She stayed still and limp until the ropes fell to the floor, the guard obviously thinking she wasn't capable of causing a problem.

Then she struck. As he lifted his hands to her arms, she linked her fingers together and swung her joined hands like a club. She caught him on the side of the head, and he fell away from her.

'Press the advantage as soon as you get it.' T.C.'s voice rang through her spinning head, words of advice from one of their sparring sessions. 'Don't assume that you'll get a second chance.'

Higgins was a good student; as her guard dropped to his knees and sank to one side, she lashed out with her foot. The kick landed in the centre of his face, and she heard bone crack. She wasn't sure if it was his nose or his neck, either was possible, and she didn't care. She didn't have the energy to care. Something was wrong with Magnum, and she needed to get to him.

She stumbled as she pulled herself upright and told herself it was just the effects of whatever drug she had been given. The door seemed to be shimmering, and she was almost afraid to try to walk through it, but the sounds of a fight were filtering through to her now. If Magnum had picked this moment to start a fight, that was probably why her guard had been untying her, to take her to Magnum and use her as leverage. The idea made her angry, and she strode through the door.

At least, in her mind, her body was straight and her steps certain. In reality, it was more of a halting stagger, with a lot of support being offered by the wall. And then she was in a dimly lit hallway and followed the noise to an open door. Everything sounded a little like it was underwater, an odd sort of blur hanging over the sounds. She shook her head slowly, wondering if there were water in her ears somehow, and a man came tumbling out of the open door and crashed to the floor.

Higgins stared for a few moments, trying to work out why this man was sprawled on the floor, and then noticed the gun lying next to him. She dropped heavily to her knees and picked up the weapon, noting with surprise how incredibly heavy it felt. More noises were filtering through the haze, and she forced her body back upright and through the doorway. She needed to get to Magnum.

...

All right, so things hadn't gone exactly according to plan. Magnum was big enough to admit when things were getting away from him, and this whole day had certainly done that. He'd been expecting Pete and a few of his guys to show up to the meeting. He hadn't expected two cars full of people. And he definitely hadn't expected two men to come out of nowhere- well, from behind them- and stick a syringe of something into Higgins. He'd watched in horror as her eyes had rolled back before she crumpled to the ground, the men making no attempt to catch her, and had been forced to fold himself into the trunk of one of the cars while the barrel of a gun had been pushed against Higgins' temple.

He didn't know if she had been brought to the same place as he had. He didn't actually know if she was still alive, but he wasn't about to focus on that. He needed to get away, and then he could find her. Simple. Except for the part where he was in a room in an unknown location with four other guys, all of whom had guns. And him? He was totally unarmed.

Which is why he was all kinds of surprised to find himself being cut free after one of the guys had left the room. Magnum figured he would have to be an idiot to pass up a perfect opportunity like this, so he threw his weight to the side, dragging the guy who had hauled him out of the chair to the floor, where a quick kick to the face took him out of the equation. And possibly broke his nose, but whatever. Two against one were much better odds, and he made quick work of one by simply linking his hands together and swinging them, club-like, at the side of the guy's face. He went down like a rock, pitching out through the doorway, leaving Magnum with just one guy standing between him and Higgins.

A shot rang out, and Magnum froze, thinking the fourth man had returned. So it came as a shock to see the shot had hit his opponent. Magnum spun and nearly sagged in relief as Higgins stepped through the door, gun raised. And pointing directly at him.

Oh.

"Higgins?" He took a step forward. Mistake! Total mistake.

Higgins' eyes narrowed and the gun lifted. Magnum slowly, very, very slowly, raised his hands.

"Where is he?" Wow. He had never heard Higgins sound so tired before, and he wondered how she managed to get away from wherever she had been taken.

"Where's who?" Magnum made sure to talk quietly and calmly, feeling like Higgins could use all the calm and quiet she could get.

"Magnum." Her eyes fluttered slightly as she said his name, her body swaying as if gravity was too much for it. "Where…" She swallowed hard. "Where is he?"

Well, this was very not good; Higgins being too confused to recognize him was one thing, but a confused Higgins with a gun who thought he was in her way? Yeah, this day was taking no end of turns for the worse.

"I'm right here, Higgy." Magnum risked taking another step forward, and it absolutely did not pay off like he had hoped.

Higgins' face hardened, and Magnum had less than a second to duck before the gun went off. He felt a flash of pain in his right arm and straightened up to see a bloody line running along his forearm.

"Next one goes right between your bloody eyes." Sure, now she sounded wide awake. The gun was moving though, like she couldn't support its weight, drooping down only for her to snap her hand back up.

He watched as she fought to keep the weapon pointed at him. Part of him was genuinely touched by her concern for him, her sheer determination to find him. But the rest of him really just wanted her to quit pointing a very lethal weapon his way.

She swayed alarmingly, nearly falling, and he felt his legs twitch as he readied himself instinctively to jump forward and catch her. Luckily for all his soft, squishy, liable to be highly damaged by a bullet parts, her leg moved to accommodate the change in her stance, and she caught her balance. But her eyes were glazed and had an unfocused look that was really starting to worry him.

"Juliet?"

Her head turned slightly, like she had forgotten he was in the room with her, and the gun wobbled.

"Juliet, please put the gun down." Magnum shifted forward, just a little, as Higgins' eyes closed completely.

She forced them open again, but they were heavy-lidded, and her head was dropping down, like she was about to fall asleep where she stood. The gun was still pointing at him though. It was swaying from side to side and dipping down to range from his head to his knees, but there was no doubt in his mind she would be able to squeeze the trigger before he could get to her.

"Tommy? Jules?" The shout was close, the voice shockingly loud after the last few minutes, and Higgins turned slightly, the gun dropping to her side. Magnum took the opportunity and threw himself forward.

Rick and T.C. came barreling through the door just in time to see Magnum tackle Higgins and send her crashing to the floor.

...

The doctors weren't too happy at being unable to name the drug that had been used on Higgins, but they were happy to say there didn't seem to be any lasting side effects. She had been given orders to rest, drink plenty, and to get straight back to hospital if she noticed anything unusual. Magnum had taken that to mean that she needed someone to keep an eye on her and had insisted she camp out in the living room of the guest house. She hadn't objected, although she insisted it was only because his coffee was stronger than hers.

Rick and T.C. had come over, bearing gifts of chocolates, and they had settled down to discuss what she remembered.

"I can't believe I didn't recognise you. I certainly can't believe I actually shot you." Higgins' voice was full of remorse, and Magnum, still touched by how strong her concern for him had been, was quick to jump in.

"No harm done. And besides," he smirked, "It's not like it's the first time I've been held at gunpoint by a friend."

Higgins gave him a quizzical look, but her request for more information was drowned out by Rick yelling, "C'mon, man! We swore we would never mention L.A. again!"